Football

Inter negotiated with Real Madrid on a EUR 45 million fee for last summer's signing of Achraf Hakimi. And the Moroccan full-back is making a fine start to life in Italy. The Serie A giants are struggling to pay Los Blancos the first installment they owe. Even the largest clubs in Europe are coping with the economic downturn brought on by the coronavirus measures. And Inter is now renegotiating with Real Madrid to make the first payment in the Achraf contract in March instead of January. According to La Repubblica, Inter has been economically hit hard and will try to pay the first EUR 10 million payment by 30 March. The club also owes its July and August 2020 bonuses to its players bonuses. Both Inter CEOs Beppe Marotta and Alessandro Antonello agree to make those payments before...

Champions Liverpool host new Premier League leaders Manchester United at Anfield. Probably the biggest fixture in the English calendar will take on even more importance this weekend. The top two positions in the table are currently held by the two most successful clubs in the history of English football. They are separated by just three points going into this mouth-watering Merseyside meeting. It's almost exactly a year ago to the day since the last meeting of these two sides. Mohamed Salah raced clear at the Kop end to score Liverpool's second goal in a 2-0 win -a goal. The result was widely regarded as the moment when Liverpool fans felt confident enough to unleash their first real roar of assurance about their drought title coming to an end. The scene on Sunday would be ve...

In the Premier League, Chelsea will be looking to return to winning ways as they take on local rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage. The Blues fell to ninth place in the table, winning just one of their last six in the league. While Fulham drew each of their last five games to stay in 18th.Fulham was originally due on Friday night to host Chelsea, but the match was rescheduled for Saturday. On Wednesday the Cottagers were pressed into action to play their postponed fixture against Tottenham Hotspur. Fulham have now drawn each of their last five in the league against Liverpool, Brighton & Hove Albion, Newcastle United, Southampton, and Tottenham. But since the beginning of November, they have only won once. They are currently sitting at the table in 18th position, two points be...

In a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid on Thursday, Athletic Bilbao forward Raul Garcia scored twice to knock the holders out of the Spanish Super Cup. They will play the final against Barcelona. Garcia, who was sent off last month during a 3-1 loss by Real, made the most of Real's Lucas Vazquez's two glaring mistakes. He capitalized both mistakes to net twice in the first half before Karim Benzema pulled one back for Real 17 minutes from time. First, Garcia pounced on indecision in the Real defense to grab on to a through ball and slot into the net in the 18th minute. The 34-year-old got Athletic off to an ideal start. In the 38th minute, after Vazquez had hauled down Inigo Martinez, Garcia doubled the lead. He sent Real keeper Thibaut Courtois the wrong way from the penalty spot. ...

Arsenal's impressive recent revival in the Premier League was tested by Crystal Palace. Their attack failed to ignite in a dismal 0-0 draw at the Emirates on Thursday. Mikel Arteta’s side was bidding for a fourth consecutive league victory. But could find no way through an obdurate Palace that would feel like they might have emerged with a win if anything. In the first half in which defender James Tomkins headed against the crossbar and Christian Benteke went close. Palace was well worth their point and were the better side. The second half was dominated by Arsenal. Early on, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang threatened Arsenal with a dipping effort that was fumbled by Guaita. But with Eberechi Eze impressive, Palace provided more attacking hazards. Benteke was released on target by ...

Phil Foden's goal earned Manchester City a nervous 1-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday. Manchester City moved to within four points of the Premier League leaders with the win. On a sodden night at the Etihad Stadium, Foden's clinical finish just before halftime proved enough for City to claim a fourth consecutive league win. But it wasn’t an easy win for the citizens. They were at their slickest at times on Wednesday, with Kevin De Bruyne pulling the strings again. For a far-post volley, the Belgian teed up Riyad Mahrez but Mahrez failed to make proper contact and, after a lightning break. He forced a great save by keeper Sanchez. De Bruyne slipped a pass to Foden. Foden’s first touch left two defenders for dead before he sent a low-shoot slide rule inside t...

Paris Saint-Germain beating Olympique de Marseille 2-1 in the Trophee des Champions on Wednesday evening. With the win Mauricio Pochettino won the first trophy of his managerial career. This month, Pochettino only moved to PSG to replace Thomas Tuchel in his first role after Tottenham Hotspur sacked him in November 2019. Tottenham had been turned into title challengers by Pochettino, but he was never able to bring any silverware to North London. At Espanyol and Southampton, Pochettino have struggled to win trophies. But to win his first PSG cup, with Mauro Icardi and Neymar scoring in the win, he had to wait only three matches. Before tonight, Pochettino had two losses: the Capital One Cup final in 2015 and the Champions League final in 2019. In2015, thanks to goals from John...

Eintracht Frankfurt reported the recent Milan transfer target Luka Jovic is returning from Real Madrid on loan. Earlier today, rumors had circulated that Jovic was available for a six-month loan package to leave the Bernabeu. Although he was interested in Milan, especially during the summer, he preferred to return to Eintracht Frankfurt. "Luka Jovic is on the verge of giving us a loan until the summer," Eintracht sports director Fredi Bobic confirmed on Sky Sports Deutschland. We do need to figure out a few things, like medical things, for example. If everything fits together, he'll be back with us soon.' In July 2019, Eintracht Frankfurt sold Jovic for €63m to Real Madrid, but he failed to make an impact.

Tottenham Hotspur put an end to the eighth-tier Marine FC's dream FA Cup run. Carlos Vinicius scored a hat trick for the Premier League club in Sunday's 5-0 third-round tie victory. In the opening minutes, the Non-League hosts stood firm. Marine had parked their bus well until conceding their first. Spurs naturally dominated possession from the start, but home keeper Bayleigh Passant had held comfortably to a few attempts from distance. But Spurs took the lead on 24 minutes when Dele Alli's cross found Vinicius right in front of the goal. Vinicius sidelined Marine keeper Bailey Passant and scored to make it 1-0 from close range. The first goal opened the floodgates for Tottenham, who quickly scored two more from close range. One of them was a Vinicius tap in and an expertly take...

Before this season, after approximately 17 matches in 2001/2002, the closest Premier League was when Newcastle United was top of the league with 33 points. Liverpool was second on goals, albeit with a game in hand, and Fulham was tenth with 23 points. Both Manchester United and Leeds United would top the table in the following month. But Arsenal would win the league by seven points by the end of the season. The next tightest season was in 1998/99 when, after 17 games, Aston Villa were top. Eventually, they'll finish sixth. Liverpool could be at the top of the Premier League at the moment. But if they lose to Manchester United and if other results go against them, then they may be as poor as sixth by the end of next weekend. Liverpool was 13 points ahead of second-place Leicester...